Intensely

How to spell intensely

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce intensely

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does intensely mean?

1. adverbTo an extreme degree; with great force, concentration, or strength of feeling.

Intensely in a sentence

• The afternoon sun beat down intensely on the empty car park.

• She concentrated intensely on the spreadsheet before the deadline.

Where does intensely come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adverb is built on the adjective 'intense', which English took in the late 1300s from the Latin intensus, the past participle of intendere, meaning 'to stretch out' or 'to strain'. That verb combined the prefix in- ('toward' or 'into') with tendere, 'to stretch', so the original mental image is of something stretched tight, like a drawn bowstring. From the sense of a tightly stretched, strained condition came the figurative idea of feelings, efforts, or sensations pushed to their highest pitch. English added the native adverb-forming suffix -ly to produce 'intensely', describing something done or felt to an extreme degree. The same tendere root stretches through a whole family of relatives, including 'tense', 'extend', 'tension', and 'attention', which all share the idea of stretching or reaching.

How the word is built

• in- (toward, into)
• tens (stretched, from Latin tendere 'to stretch')
• -e
• -ly (adverb suffix)